Agent Orange Essay, Research Paper

Just

saying the name Agent Orange gets the attention of every Vietnam veteran, and I

dare say most of the Australian and American public, not to mention the

Vietnamese. It has been argued about, written about, researched and debated,

published in magazines and newspapers, talked about on radio and television. It

was the subject of documentaries, legal battles, and in Australia a Royal

Commission that lasted some two years and cost 3.8 million dollars. Agent Orange

was the code name for a herbicide developed for the military, primarily for use

in tropical climates. Although the genesis of the product goes back to the

1940?s, serious testing for military applications did not begin until the

early 1960?s. The purpose of the product was to deny an enemy cover and

concealment in dense terrain by defoliating trees and shrubbery where the enemy

could hide. The product ?Agent Orange? (a code name for the orange band that

was used to mark the drums it was stored in) was principally effective against

broad-leaf foliage, such as the dense jungle-like terrain found in Southeast

Asia. The product was tested in Vietnam in the early 1960?s, and was brought

into ever widening use during the height of the war in 1967-68, though it?s

use was diminished and eventually discontinued in 1971. Agent Orange was a 50-50

mix of two chemicals, known conventionally as 2,4,D and 2,4,5,T. the combined

product was mixed with kerosene or diesel fuel and dispersed by aircraft,

vehicle, and hand spraying. An estimated 19 million gallons of Agent Orange were

used in South Vietnam during the war. The earliest health concerns about Agent

Orange were about the product?s contamination with TCDD, or dioxin. TCDD is

one of a family of dioxins, some found in nature, and are cousins of

dibenzofurans and PCB?s. Dioxin is formed by burning chlorine-based chemical

compounds with hydrocarbons. The major source of dioxin in the environment (95%)

comes from incinerators burning chlorinated wastes. Dioxin pollution is also

affiliated with paper mills, which use chlorine bleaching in their process and

with the production of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastics. The TCDD that can be

found in Agent Orange is thought to be harmful to man. In laboratory tests on

animals, TCDD has caused a wide variety of diseases, many of them fatal. TCDD is

not found in nature, but rather is a man-made and is always an unwanted

byproduct of the chemical process of manufacturing of certain herbicides,

bactericides, wood preservatives, and other products. It is believed by many

scientists to be the most toxic of all synthetic chemicals. It was first

identified as a contaminant in 1957, but not recognized as a major public hazard

until the mid 1970?s. The Agent Orange used in Vietnam was later found to be

extremely contaminated with TCDD. The Agent Orange in Vietnam was contaminated

in amounts from 0.05 to almost 50 parts per million, with the most common

contamination being 2 parts per million (ppm). This contamination resulted in an

estimated 368 pounds of dioxin sprayed over Vietnam in a six-year period.